baking tortellini

Neither of us are of Italian descent nor have much cooking experience:) So pardon us if this is a dumb question.

I wanna try baking tortellini - only baked pasta dish I know how to make is a basic lasagna. I came across a few on the internet - one in particular had a mixture of 3/4 cup ricotta,2 tsp parmesan and 1/8 tsp black pepper spread at the bottom of an oiled pan. The tortellini is then mixed with a jar of sauce and then spread over the cheese mix. Finally a cup of Mozzerella goes over the top. The recipe doesn't give an oven temp but says to bake for 20 mins until cheese is bubbly. Seems easy enough, right?

Question is this- why does the ricotta go on the bottom? Any suggestions for a temp? 350 or 400 maybe? Thanks!

Pasta bake is pasta bake, really. I'm not certain why your ricotta goes on the bottom, either. Generally I gently mix up my cooked pasta, sauce, cheese, etc. and then turn it out into a baker and sprinkle with more cheese. A 350 - 375 oven never fails me.